By LaMar Gafford

Special to the American Press

HAMMOND — Up by eight points with 3:37 left in the game, Rosepine appeared to be heading to its first title game appearance in girls basketball since 1977.

That was when No. 3 Rayville squashed those dreams.

Rayville, which trailed by as many as 21 points, rallied to beat the seventh-seeded Eagles 69-63 in a Class 2A semifinal Wednesday at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University.

“The first half was going our way, but too many times (in the second half), I think we were playing with fire,” Rosepine head coach Charles “CT” Kiely said. “They can shoot the basketball, and in the first half they just weren’t dropping for them. They got going in the second half and we couldn’t match the scoring output.”

Rayville scored the final 14 points as it missed its final five shots — the last coming on a jumper by sophomore Neveah Rivera.

Rosepine (29-8) was led by sophomore Addison Fruge, who had 16 points and six assists, but missed her playmaking abilities when she fouled out with 6:41 remaining. Fellow sophomore Kelly Norris had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Helping Rayville (28-7) was it making five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for a 30-12 advantage.

“We never give up,” Hornets coach Jokeirra Sneed said. “We can be down 30 points and we would not give up. Ever. That’s what brought us to win the game today.”

Hornets senior Amari West scored a game-high 23 points with 12 rebounds, six assists and six steals. Leading the 3-point barrage were Nakaii Webb, Samiyah Smith and Lalaina Wood with three each from long range.

Rosepine loses only Taylor Farris in the offseason.

Kiely said he’s optimistic for the future and happy with the breakthrough season.

“The love that we have for each other on this team — it’s such a close-kit team,” Kiely said. “They’re just an amazing group of girls that I’m glad people got to see on this big of a stage.”